Almost everyone has some form of aerosol product in their home. Maybe it’s the dry shampoo you use on hectic days. Maybe it’s your carpet cleaner, the only one strong enough to clean up muddy dog prints. Or maybe it’s your favorite air freshener. Whatever form your aerosol product takes, there’s the unfortunate reality that it’s potentially dangerous to your health. So what are the health risks of using aerosol products? Keep reading to find out.
Toxic Ingredients
One of the biggest dangers of aerosol products are the toxic ingredients. At first, you may deny the possibility of these being in your products. Maybe they’re labeled as organic or claim to be safe. Unfortunately, most aerosol products use volatile organic compounds (VOCs) along with other neurotoxins and carcinogens such as formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is natural, so even if your product claims it’s all-natural, it still isn’t safe.
Fire Hazard
If you’ve ever wondered exactly what makes aerosol products spray, the answer is: a fire hazard waiting to happen. Most of these products use nitrous oxide or carbon dioxide as their main propellant, and both of these gases are extremely flammable. The presence of these dangerous gases is one of the reasons why people who use oxygen tanks can’t use any aerosol sprays in their home. Even canned whipped cream can be dangerous, and given the dangers of these gases around kitchen flames, they’re not safe for people who don’t use oxygen tanks, either.
Negative Environmental Effect
The products we use affect the environment, which in turn affects our health. That means that if we use products that hurt the environment, we’re eventually going to hurt our own health as well. It’s a horrible cycle to which aerosol products contribute. Aerosol is essentially small particles suspended within a gas. As that gas enters the atmosphere, it can change weather patterns and wear away the ozone layer of our atmosphere. The ozone layer is what protects us from the sun, and if it were to wear too thin, then parts of Earth—and possibly the whole planet—would become uninhabitable.
Multiple health risks are associated with using aerosol products. If you want to keep yourself and your family safe, use aerosol products as little as possible and opt for personal care and cleaning items that don’t fall into the aerosol category.
